On the Planning Commission Agenda, May 8, 2012

Sorry, we have been out of town for a few days to attend the Annual California Peace Officer Ceremonies in Sacramento. I meant to post while I was up there but activities (and the prospect of great food) kept me away from the keyboard. While I was gone, some of our readers sent me some interesting items which will make for good posts this week. Give me a day and I will be back in force.

There is not much on the Planning Commission agenda tonight. However, the one item, which is a public hearing, is the Del Rio Building, which we wrote about in March. We heard there had been some design changes that the city was not happy with. The owners had orginally planned on putting office space on the second floor of the building and then changed it to an apartment for the owners. The city was not happy with the change as they felt the ground contamination had not been adequately cleaned from the lot for living space. The owners have subsequently returned to the originally planned office space. According to the staff report accompanying the hearing, the contamination will not interfere with you if you are only having coffee or buying a new ring from the retail stores on the ground floor or affect you if y you only work 8 hours a day on the second floor. But, if you slept there….

Of course, there were some other design issues the city had problems with as well. The experts in Old Town decided the facade needed rearranging. They sent it back. I have seen the renderings for both. The changes were minimal and could hardly be noticed. However, the city experts in Old Town were adamant about having it there way.Hopefully, this will be the end. If the Planning Commission approves the design review and it is not appealed, the Del Rios should have a new building in a few months. We wish them success and look forward to having a cup of coffee at Old Town’s newest business.